Mother, Why?
by sunnystars
Summary: A Mother's Day Fic. Sephiroth stumbles into a special cave. Who is the woman in the crystal, and why does Sephiroth seem to know her?


A short Mother's Day fic I thought of earlier.

There are those rare times when Sephiroth's himself. When I say "himself," I mean not under the influence of Jenova. He's "himself" like he was in the past, when he would enjoy the company of his two former best friends, Angeal and Genesis. He's "himself" like it's before he was living under a lie. He's "himself" when he's alone, isolated from all civilization, allowing him to reflect. This was one of those times.

He couldn't quite recall how he got there. He never remembers how he ends up in certain places, after he's relinquished of Jenova's hold. His current location was a surprise, however. He's never been, or heard of a place as magnificent as this. Sephiroth could feel the pull of the Mako energy. The cave was adorned in beautiful Mako crystals, the largest one in the center. He walked closer, to see a beautiful woman encased in the crystal. She had long brown hair in a high ponytail, dressed in a long, white gown. It was obvious she was dead. Intrigued, Sephiroth placed his hand onto the crystal, only to immediately pull back when he received a shock though his arm. His brain told him he should know this woman, and yet he couldn't recall her face from his past.

_Who is she?_

His eyes narrowed, when he saw the Mako crystal start to glow, and his surroundings changed. He was standing in a field of grass and flowers, a few trees here and there leading off into the horizon. A clear blue sky surrounded him from above. His hand flew to the hilt of Masamune, when he heard light footsteps approaching, only to realize it wasn't where it should be. The footsteps stopped behind him, and he turned around, ready to face his opponent. Mako green eyes met brown, and he stepped back in surprise.

_Who are you?_

She smiled.

"Hello."

Her voice was kind, yet held a deep sadness within it.

"Where am I?"

"You're in the Crystal Cave," she replied, walking closer.

"I fail to see how this is a cave," Sephiroth replied, gesturing to the open space around him.

"The place you were before… This is merely a reflection, created with data from the past. As am I."

"You're the woman inside the Mako crystal."

"Yes."

". . . Who are you?"

"My name… is Lucrecia Crescent."

The shock went through Sephiroth again, as he strained to remember how he knew her.

"I know you… But I can't remember who you."

Lucrecia walked slowly, circling him.

"I know, Sephiroth," she said, "I never had the chance to meet you, but we do know each other. We've been connected for a very long time."

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes.

"How do you know my name?" his eyes followed the woman's form. She faced away from him, looking up into the sky.

"You were in _**his**_ thoughts. He told me about you. He visits me often, though I wish he wouldn't. I still can't bear the guilt."

She walked over to the tree, near Sephiroth.

"This used to be our place. Under the tree," she sat down.

Sephiroth was getting impatient.

"Why purpose do I have, bringing me here?'

Her head lowered.

"… I had to speak to you. At least once."

"Why?"

She smiled, sadly.

"I've waited for you. I told myself if there was ever the chance of you finding me, I would tell you the truth."

He walked towards her, and knelt down. For some unexplained reason, he felt at ease with this woman.

_But why?_

"What do you mean, 'the truth?' "

"About you," she replied.

"And about your parents."

Now Sephiroth was angry.

"I already know 'the truth,' " he snarled, " I was nothing more than a failed experiment, whose mother was locked away, designed to suffer a life of torture, experimented on, because she was a Cetra."

Lucrecia let out a hollow laugh.

"I suppose that's what they told you, didn't they?"

"No, actually I had to find out myself, from records in the Nibelheim Shinra Mansion."

She sighed.

"That bastard Hojo never bothered to tell me anything," he scoffed, "and he's supposed to be my father…"

"Actually…"

"Now what is it?"

"Almost everything you just said is a lie."

"What are you talking about, woman?!"

"I'm going to assume the records said your mother was a 'Cetra' named Jenova, am I correct?"

"Yes, yes they did."

Sephiroth didn't like where this was going.

"That is another lie."

"NO! No, it can't be a lie! It's just not possible! She told me, she said _**I**_was her _**son**_! You know what? I don't care! I don't care if it's a lie anymore! She's all I have right now; she's the only Mother I know and have!"

Sephiroth stood up and faced away from Lucrecia.

"Don't take the only truth _**I**_ know away from me."

Lucrecia shot up and started to follow him.

"Wait!"

He stopped.

"Please, let me explain. I'll get straight to the point! This is my only chance to right my wrongs. Please," she begged.

"You have five minutes."

"Jenova and Hojo are _**not**_your parents! It was a lie he made to keep you from asking questions about who you were. Your real parents were denied the chance to raise you, and it's your mother's fault. Your mother made some horrible mistakes in her lifetime, and when she was denied the chance to even hold her new born baby, she committed suicide soon after you were born."

"How do you know?" Sephiroth interrupted.

"I was there."

"Where is her body? Her grave?"

"In the Crystal Cave, sealed inside a Mako crystal," she said.

Sephiroth turned around.

"Preposterous! The only woman I saw, was… you?"

"Yes. _**I **_am your mother. Your _**real**_ mother."

Sephiroth couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why, why was he only hearing about this now?

"Explain yourself," he said.

"I was a Class A biotechnological scientist working for Shin-Ra with Professor Hojo. We were working on the Jenova project. I was assigned a body guard, one of the Turks, to protect me. Over time, we eventually fell in love, but it was my foolish mistake in the past that ruined everything."

"Go on," Sephiroth said.

"I was responsible for the death of my mentor, Grimoire. I carried that guilt with me through the years, which deepened when his son was assigned to protect me. Professor Hojo asked me if I was interested in testing out the Jenova cells on a human, to create the perfect warrior. My curiosity got the better of me, and I agreed. He then told me that it would be more beneficial if the cells were injected into a fetus, more specifically mine. I told my bodyguard, who I was in love with. He objected to it, and I almost denied Professor Hojo, except… His eyes… They reminded me so much of Grimoire's, I just couldn't stand the guilt I felt! I denied his love for me. I betrayed him, sacrificed our feelings and turned to Professor Hojo. Grimoire's son went to object to Professor Hojo, but when he did he was shot! Professor Hojo used his body as an experiment, but was dubbed a failure. I couldn't let him stay dead, so I took his body, and injected the Chaos gene into him, forever changing his life.

"I let the professor use me. He injected the cells into my unborn child, and when he was born.

"Who was he? My father?"

"His name, was Vincent Valentine, son of Grimoire Valentine."

"Vincent Valentine? The one in Strife's group?"

"Yes."

"Then he would be almost sixty. He doesn't look a day over twenty-seven," Sephiroth mused.

"The Chaos gene prevented him from physically aging," she said.

Lucrecia smiled sadly and walked towards Sephiroth, stopping right in front of him.

"Why?"

His voice was quiet; Lucrecia had to strain her hearing.

"Why did you let me go? Was there something so wrong with me that you couldn't bear to look at me? Is this why I turned out like this? Controlled by the mother I thought I had, destroying the ones I cared for, causing so many others grief?"

Pain was visible in the eyes of Lucrecia. Tears threatened to fall, the pain of seeing her son so confused, so lost felt so real reaching out to her soul even though her form was nothing more than data.

"No! I loved you, even though I had not touched you, I love you. I tried, I tried so hard! Just one touch, that's all I wanted! … At least one, to let my baby know I was there, that I cared about him!"

Lucrecia put her hand on his cheek.

"Oh, my Sephiroth… I'm so sorry!"

With another flash of white, Sephiroth was back in the Crystal Cave. The woman known as Professor Lucrecia Crescent still in her Mako cocoon. At first he wondered if it was all a hallucination, a dream. Until he felt the lingering presence of a small hand on his cheek that he realized it was real.

_**She, was my mother**_

He stared at the woman a bit longer before noticing his sword off to the side. He picked it up, strapping it to his hip. Walking past Lucrecia's tomb, he felt a strong pain soot through his head.

_**I guess my time is up**_

He took one last look at his mother, his rightful mother, and disappeared, teleporting to a different town before Jenova fully took control of "himself" again. The last thing that remained in his mind, was her voice.

"_**Oh, my Sephiroth… I'm so sorry!"**_


End file.
